The Pirates paid tribute to Boston and the victims of the Marathon bombing by playing Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline," a fixture of Red Sox games, while the crowd of Pittsburgh fans sang along after the first inning.

But fans on hand to watch the Pirates beat the Atlanta Braves went beyond the symbolic gesture of the song and opened their wallets as well. The team dedicated the proceeds of its 50-50 raffle to the victims of the attack.

“We thought this was a perfect opportunity, because we knew we were going to have a big crowd, for our fans to be able to contribute to One Fund Boston, which is the organization that the governor of Massachusetts and the mayor of Boston have put together to help people that have been affected by the bombings,” said Patty Paytas, executive director of Pirates Charities.

The crowd bought tickets in record numbers: the total pot reached $17,165 -- by far the largest total of the season.

Half of that amount went to the winner of the raffle, the other half went to Boston charities.

“I think it’s great, I think all the clubs, everybody should be donating,” said Pirates fan Kim Klinger. “My son’s going to be running in the Pittsburgh Marathon, so I would hope that if something happened, people would step up to help us."